Photoinduced electron transfer dynamics of AuNPs and Au@PdNPs supported on graphene oxide probed by dark-field hyperspectral microscopy

The time scale for interfacial photoinduced electron transfer (PeT) in plasmonic nanoparticles is not well established and the details are still under debate. This has renewed the interest in studying the electron transfer effect from both experimental and theoretical points of view. We present a quantitative analysis of PeT in single spherical gold (Au) and gold@palladium core@shell (Au@Pd) nanoparticles supported on reduced graphene oxide (RGO) using dark-field hyperspectral microscopy (DFHM) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). By studying the plasmon bandwidth in the scattering spectra of single particles and by correlating it to the plasmon damping processes we showed that PeT occurs from the AuNPs to RGO in a 10 fs time scale with a quantum efficiency of 35%. The introduction of a Pd shell on the AuNPs decreases the PeT time, with transfer occurring in as little as 1.7 fs with quantum yield higher than 74%. Furthermore, EIS showed a smaller resistance for PeT on RGO/Au@PdNPs under green light illumination. Our results can improve the understanding of the chemical interface damping process due to PeT in plasmonic nanomaterials and can enable the design of more efficient plasmon enhanced photocatalysts.